Baltimore's notorious Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) prison gang allegedly instructed its new recruits to manipulate insecure female guards to help them run their criminal enterprise from jail, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The Baltimore gang's tactics are emerging as more court documents are filed in a massive racketeering case accusing 13 female corrections officers of colluding with seven male inmates and several other gangsters on the outside.
Corrections officers allegedly smuggled BGF members contraband such as cellphones, which are essential to carrying out a criminal enterprise from behind bars. Many of the guards are also accused of being literally "in bed" with the BGF inmates.
Four of the officers became pregnant with prison gang leader Tavon White's baby, and two got tattooed with the gang leader's name.
An affidavit in the case says BGF recruits were specifically told to target female corrections officers with "low self-esteem, insecurities, and certain physical attributes," according to the Baltimore Sun. The idea was that these officers could be easily corrupted.
Indeed, with the help of prison guards, BGF members carried out money laundering, assault, extortion, and drug trafficking from behind bars, prosecutors say.
It's not uncommon for members of America's prison gangs to seek the help of prison guards to help them commit crimes. Prison guards are especially vulnerable to being manipulated or taking bribes. The work of a prison guard is low-paid and regarded as the least respected job in law enforcement, several criminal justice experts told Business Insider.
Most corrections officers don't have college degrees or receive the same training cops get. In inner cities like Baltimore, many of them come from the same communities as the inmates they're guarding, criminal justice expert Martin Horn told us.
"Part of the problem you have in prison is highly manipulative inmates who are in some ways more sophisticated than the staff who are watching them," Horn said.
SEE ALSO: America's 11 Most Powerful Prison Gangs
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